Another day... whoosh!

[byslantedlight]

I swear I only just got up this morning... but I also remember rushing off to go and do a conservation stint at Stourhead, where I spent the morning covered in dust, but perfectly happy helping to give the Pantheon a deep clean... And I promised pics if I could, so...

Not a particularly promising day for it - and it was warm and steamy under all that grey cloud too, not nice an autumn-cool yet... But Stourhead is rather pretty even under dark skies, so never mind! The Pantheon from across the lake - you can just see the autumn-tree already turning beside it...

And here we are inside the Pantheon! I thought I'd take advantage of some dramatic lighting and take pics of the statues - but when I saw this first one I blinked (ack! Don't blink! *g*) - doesn't she look like she's setting off up the ladder to get on with some cleaning?! I liked chummy with his wee fig leaf and wild boar head too... *g*

But this was my cleaning job - wooden benches from the 1700s - they're not in bad nick, considering! *g*

And this is the job that I would have liked best - cleaning up high instead of down low! I like ladders! Oh well... *g*

And then the Pantheon was all shiny again... ...and I was completely and utterly matte - and absolutely shattered! It was surprisingly hard work, and I came home and collapsed, ended up having a bath - ow back! - and then had a really deep-asleep nap!

But the really good news? After a rush trip into Bath yesterday, I am now fully equipped to bug you even more again with random pictures... *g*New camera! This pic was taken from my back door step... *g* It's not quite as solid-feeling as my lovely D40x, but hopefully I'll get used to it... and I'm going to try and work out my controls properly this time, and use them more meaningfully, so I shall record here that this pic was taken with:
- my 70-300 lens (pic info tells me it was taken at 300mm focal length, which is true cos the lens was extended all the way *g* No tripod though, so a bit blurry...)
- camera set to shutter priority (where it chooses the aperture - 5.6 this time, and I choose the shutter speed). When I left it on automatic, I was getting a completely burned-out white moon, but playing with the shutter speed gave control over the light (as it's supposed to do... *g*), and the best result seemed to be from 1/400 sec. So it's taking longer to let the light in, which means it can record more subtle nuances of it.
- I love that in the pic info from the camera there's a blank space for "Subject Distance". Actually, it was about 238,855 miles to the subject... New Camera didn't do a bad job, did she...? *g*

Comments

[etain-antrim.livejournal.com]

New camera did a terrific job! I'm impressed.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

She did rather a good job really, consider the 200,000 miles between her and her subject! *g*

[merentha13.livejournal.com]

Nicely done! What type of camera did you get?
Playing with different exposures and settings is quite fun. Some of the results can be quite amusing! :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I went for the Nikon 5300 in the end. I was going to go for the 3300, but I rather fancied the multiple exposure option - I remember playing around with that on my old Pentax K1000 - rewinding the film and hoping you'd got the amount right... *g* I used to do early photoshopping too - scissors, and photos of photos, and - voila! My brother was walking on the moon!

I played around with the settings a bit on my D40x, but I didn't pay conscious attention to working out what I was doing with shutters and aperture and so on - and I've forgotten what I should remember from all those years ago! I tend to get distracted by the other elements of composition... but I'm going to make the effort this time! What I really want to do one day is be able to take those pics that you can stack to show the Milky Way stretching across the sky... mind you, I'll need a telescope too... *g*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

I love the wee chap with the boar's head and the fig leaf... how did he get the leaf to stay in place, I wonder? *g*

The moon photo is fabulous - without a tripod too? Blimey! What sort of camera did you get?

And hope you're not too achey today!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Heee - as long as it wasn't an early form of glue... or a rubber band... or... *shuts up* *g*

I went for a Nikon D5300 in the end - it's got bells and whistles that I don't particularly need, and the screen that you have to open and close is still throwing me - on the one hand I like that the picture preview isn't there to blind you, but on the other hand I want to see the pic straight after to know whether i need to try again or not, so then I have to open it... But I think I like it on the whole! Once I get finished with work tomorrow I'll have a whole three days to go and try it out, too... *g*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Loved the pictures of the inside of the Pantheon. The statues are lovely but I'm trying to imagine how the entire place looks.

And the moon! What a great picture. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I should have taken a picture of the whole space, but I only had my phone camera then, and it's not wide-angle enough to take in much at once... I'll try to go back (maybe this weekend!) and take my shiny New Camera with me... *g*

And thank you! I like trying to take moon pics... Just wait until I get a tripod, there'll be all sorts of experimentation... *g*

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Yay, more pics!!!
There're never too many pics!!

Wonderful moon foto, I tried one, too, but the moon's too far away for my tablet camera. So I'll look at the rainbow ones again and again. *gg*
And your pretty Stourhead ones, great!!

How's the office going? I was in mine for two and a half hours! I'm so very proud of me. *gg*

Happy day!!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

This is true - never too many pics! In fact there should be more pics... *eyes other people who happen to be reading this...* *g*

Your rainbow pics are so gorgeous - and they were on your tablet! Very impressive!

Well done you for your office today! I was in mine from... sort of 10-ish until sort of 11-ish, cos I just can't concentrate still - despite my sneaky Wednesday plan... And the same's going to happen tomorrow, if I don't get to bed now - I was so going to be in bed by midnight...

Happy tomorrow, by the time you read this! *g*

[ci5mates.livejournal.com]

Amazing moon shot! I have a new slr and a book for beginners which I should really read :) Your Pantheon photo is amazing too, its a lovely composition! I hope to get shots of the Aussie bush when we eventually go 4 wheel driving in central Australia. I should really get practicing in anticipation.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *g* I feel so much better now that I have a proper camera again - my phone camera did a fab job, but I still felt I was missing something...

You should be practicing with your new SLR, definitely - and posting the pics to lj so that we can see, too... *g* There should be more pics on lj, I reckon - it's nice to see where people are! And ooh, is that a planned holiday? How exciting - amazing pics, surely... *g*

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Ooh what did you clean your 1700s benches with? Is there special stuff or do you just squirt on a bit of Pledge and rub it with a J-cloth? *g*

The moon photo is spectacular. I think we should have a pic of your new camera though, as well! And blah and gah that I downgraded my moon icons - they were superseded by boys, or flowers, or I don't know what :)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Pledge? Pledge! *has conniptions* Eeeeeh! Oh, you... No special stuff for regular cleans - very soft brushes, that's all... Getting them damp isn't good for them, so not even water... and cloths might rub off the paint or varnish or surface, hence soft brushes... *g*

I shall see what I can do about a photo of my camera - very meta... *g* Rats for missing moon icons - I love my moon icons... I don't use them often enough... or any of my icons... I should use all my icons more... and you should too, cos I love your stairs... *g*

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

I love the detail in the bench, not only the painting but the carving too. Amazing to think it's survived all this time.

That is a fantastic moon photo, new camera really did do a great job. *wants*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I do like your icon... *g*

The benches were fab - four of them, matching. It really is impressive that they're still around, especially since they effectively live in a shed! A fancy shed with a dome and all, granted, but still - no heating in winter, dusty and damp too...

New camera's doing pretty well so far. I have to sort out my image size (currently too big even for me - though I liked being able to blow up just a few dew drops on a spider's web this morning, until you can see the view reflected in them!), and focus points and all, but... yeah. *g* Happy with New Camera so far! *g*